


So I've Heard

by possiblyobsessed



Series: IronDad and SpiderSon + the Avengers + Ignoring Infinity War [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Gen, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-01 09:36:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16282148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possiblyobsessed/pseuds/possiblyobsessed
Summary: The Rogues are back at the compound but Tony isn't ready to tell them about Peter. Unfortunately, he isn't a quiet bragger, and he really likes to talk about his kid. The Avengers just want to know who Tony's son is.OrThe five times the Avengers only heard about Peter and the one time they met him





	1. 1

The air in the room was so tense that Tony thought it would have been better if he hadn’t shown up. The UN could surely look after a gaggle of heroes alone, right? It wasn’t like it was all that important that Tony was there to watch them sign the Sokovia Accords.

The Sokovia Accords. The things that had caused all the trouble to start with. A sick feeling set in Tony’s stomach at the thought that he had caused a lot of the trouble. But he had recently worked so hard, not that they would ever thank him, to get the rogue Avengers pardoned. He had worked to change the Sokovia Accords so it was more about the heroes being held at accountability and less about them having to give up their identity and their rights. It was much better now. Sure they still needed the UNs stamp of approval to go into action, but that seemed fair enough, considering the damage they’d caused. Tony also had his legal team working all day every day to get Ross fired.

But sitting in a room with his old friends, none of this seemed to make a difference. The mood was sullen and everyone sat with their shoulders squared as if they were ready to fight. The four people in the room who were expected to sign the Accords all had unpleasant frowns on their faces. There was such a divide in the way the UN official, Tony, Rhodey and Vision sat on one side and Natasha, Sam, Wanda and Steve sat on the other. Clint and Scott (“Who?” Tony had asked at the mention of Ant-Guy) had signed the Accords earlier and much quicker than their counterparts because they had families they wanted to return to. Much quicker being a year ago. It had been a year since the fight. Since Germany, since Siberia. Since what the media had dubbed the ‘Civil War’.

Clint and Scott had been quick to sign revised Accords and go into house arrest. The others had not. But now they were signing them and would go into house arrest at the new Avengers Compound. Tony was fairly sure the only reason they had even changed their mind was because he had gotten them pardoned and they were no longer fugitives. But then, he couldn’t pretend to know their motives. It hadn’t worked well for him last time.

\---

Tony hated having the other Avengers back in the compound. He hated feeling so vulnerable. He hated that he was too scared to have Peter over, because he didn’t want them to meet him, but that meant spending less time with him. He hated having more people living with him only to act like they weren’t there, to not talk to them, to still be just as alone. If he walked into a room with one of the rogues or one of them walked into a room he was in there would be silence after the obligatory “Hello”. The only people he talked to were Rhodey and Vision. Or Happy and Pepper on the off chance they were there. Steve and Natasha had attempted to talk to him the first night of their stay and that had been a disaster. He tried to push the memory from his mind.

Thinking of the others he frowned, he wasn’t going to be able to avoid them much longer. A meeting between the seven heroes at the compound had been scheduled so they could talk strategy and teamwork. That was tomorrow and unfortunately, though she tried unbeknownst to the others, Pepper had been unable to get Tony a meeting in the time slot.

He couldn’t help but wonder why he had gotten them all pardoned. Why he had thought it was a good idea to invite them all to his home. It all seemed so much sillier now that it had actually happened. If the world was in danger they probably would have shown up to save it anyway.

His phone buzzed, pulling him from his dread. He couldn’t help but grin when he saw the text. Maybe he would be able to avoid the others for longer than he thought.

\---

Natasha wandered the compound. She worked hard to remember every twist and turn she took, to memorise the layout, as was a habit she had picked up in her years as an assassin. She liked the building, liked what Tony had done. She was trying to find him, so maybe she’d tell him so. Probably not.

She had been in the lounge with Wanda, Sam and Steve. Vision had been there too, but he was really only talking to Wanda. They were the only ones who had been on different sides of the fight that were on speaking terms. Over the few days she had been there, the lounge, kitchen and her bedroom were the only places she frequented. Now, she had slipped away from the others to find Tony. It wasn’t that she wanted to apologise to him, not exactly, but she did want to talk to him. She wanted to be on good enough terms with him that they could talk to each other instead of awkwardly standing in the same room.

Maybe it would eventually lead to an apology from both parties. Because, contrary to what the others might believe Natasha had huge regrets in her actions at Leipzig. Not saving Steve and Bucky, she had to do that, she owed it to Steve. But the fact that she had to double cross to do it. She wanted more than anyone to bring the team back together, because, much like Tony, the Avengers were the closest thing she ever had to a family.  
So talking to Tony was her way to start bringing everyone closer. Not that she’d ever tell them that.

Natasha came to a stop outside a large white door which was opened just slightly. She knew she shouldn’t have listened, but that was definitely Tony’s voice.

“…can’t make it. Sorry honey bear.”

“They won’t be happy and I’m going to have to deal with it alone,” Nat heard a sigh before Rhodey continued, “No, no, no, you go I’m glad that you spend time with the kid. It’s good to see you care about someone so much.”

There was a pause in conversation leaving Nat the time to process what she was hearing. The kid? Who could the kid be? She knew what Tony used to be like, but he was always careful too. It couldn’t be his kid, that much was obvious to her. Tony had never even expressed any interest in being a father. Maybe he had just reached that stage where he referred to everyone younger than him as a kid. She didn’t think Tony Stark would ever reach that stage.

“His done really well. Great grades. A dinner celebration is in order. Just him, his aunt and me.”

Well, now he definitely sounded school age.

“Wow, you are proud. Maybe you should hang his report card on the fridge.”

“The kid’s smart! He gets it from me.”

He gets it from me? He gets it from me? What was Tony on about? Natasha was sure that Tony couldn’t have a son, but this conversation was convincing her otherwise.

“Riiight. And I’ve got to cover for you at the Avengers get together because of it.”

Natasha started to walk away, even though the conversation hadn’t finished. She wasn’t by any means an idiot. She was almost certain that Tony Stark didn’t have a child. She’d done more research into the man than anyone else and had never found out about any Stark spawn. She also knew better than anyone that meanings could be lost when you only heard part of a conversation, but she couldn’t think of any other reason Tony would even consider becoming close to a child. Maybe the Avengers weren’t the closest thing he had ever had to family. 

One meaning from the conversation was not lost to her. Rhodey had to cover for him at a ‘get together’ which could only mean Tony wouldn’t be going to the meeting. She stalked away from the room and without even realising it found herself back in the lounge room. The television was still on, but it now seemed to only be background noise to their conversation.

“We’re not the only ones in the wrong, but Tony won’t apologise until we do, so I suggest that we use this meeting to apologise to him,” Steve was saying.

“Good luck, considering he won’t be at the meeting,” Nat dropped down on the couch next to Sam, who immediately moved to give her more room.

“What?” Wanda stared at her, clearly waiting for an explanation. Sam and Steve looked just as curious, so Nat relayed the conversation she had just heard back to the others. It was obvious that they were all even more confused than her.

“Sounds like Stark’s got a son. A secret son. I bet I could find theories about it online,” Sam joked.

Steve shook his head, “It’s just not possible.”

Wanda turned to Vision, “Do you know about the boy, Vis?”

“Tony would prefer his identity is kept secret.”

Although the AI was unaware, he had just added fuel to the flame. The ex-rogue Avengers were beginning to believe Tony may possibly have a son. May possibly have had a son the whole time they knew him.


	2. 2

Tony Stark was a busy man. So busy in fact that he almost never had time for breakfast. At least that was his go to excuse when he skipped it. Sometimes Rhodey and Pepper even let him get away with it. He really wished he’d been too busy this morning. Instead he found himself sipping too-weak coffee in his kitchen with Wanda, Sam, Natasha and Steve. Just how he loved starting his day.

Even after the three weeks of them being back in the compound, relationships between the former, scratch that, current teammates had not started to heal. Tony had to admit, even he had expected there to be more conversation at this stage. And he was pretty sure he was the most pessimistic of all of them. Skipping out on that first meeting after they got back probably hadn’t helped. But then, skipping out on the Avengers was easier than skipping out on Peter Parker. Plus, there had been three other meetings since then. Three. He had been to all of those, he had talked at all of those, he had stayed civil at all of those and he had listened to the, admittedly bad, ideas the others had at all of those.

The compound’s newcomers had also started regarding him with suspicion for a reason he had yet to figure out. The new attitude towards him had started after he missed that first meeting. He had considered telling the team it was nothing and that they shouldn’t worry about what he was doing. But they would worry, and they would ask questions. Tony didn’t want to answer those, he wasn’t even near ready for the team to find out about Peter yet. It was his opinion that the team should never meet Peter. He wanted to keep Peter to himself. He wanted to keep Peter away from them.

He tried to hide his frown behind his mug. The drink he really needed right now had a lot less caffeine and a lot more alcohol. Of course, that wasn’t acceptable at this time of the morning. And the others in the room would most certainly judge him for it.

“Tony, you know you can sit down.” 

He bit his tongue so he didn’t reply rudely, or let on his wariness at sitting with them. He didn’t want to offend Natasha, of all the rogues she seemed to be the least unhappy with him. She was also the scariest. Not that that had any reason to do with why he walked over and cautiously slid into the chair beside her. The silence that had surrounded them before didn’t cease. The air here seemed thicker than it did at the bench where he had been standing. Just when he thought he was going to start choking, Sam saved the day.

“So, uh the compound is really nice. I like what you’ve done.”

Tony nodded. He didn’t know how to reply. He didn’t know where this was going. He didn’t like not knowing. He didn’t like feeling so out of place. He was used to it, especially in the last few weeks – in his own home – but he didn’t like it.

“My room too. It’s really cool. Bigger than my one back in New York and Scotland. Though, you’ve put me so close to Steve I can hear his snoring some nights.”

Tony grinned. It was, in truth, not really funny at all, perhaps it wasn’t even supposed to be. He didn’t know. But he could appreciate the attempt at humour. He liked that Sam was trying to lighten the mood. If he had to admit it he liked Sam, at least more so than the others at the moment. It was obvious that Sam was trying to make everyone more comfortable though he couldn’t understand why when they’d never been close in the first place, but he welcomed the attempt.

“Good to hear. There’s always spare rooms if Capsicle gets too loud,” Tony replied, though he knew the man wouldn’t even consider a room change. Loyal to Steve until the end.

“God, I hate that damn nickname.”

Everyone looked at Steve in surprise. Nat decided to take the moment before anyone else could, “Language, Captain.”

It’s the first time the rogues have seen Tony laugh since they arrived. It’s kind of nice. It’s not the kind of laugh they used to hear from him when Clint tripped over his own bows or Bruce ended people with words. It wasn’t the kind of laugh they heard when all of them were on good terms. But it was the kind of laugh that sparked hope. It was the kind of laugh that let you know perhaps one day things would improve. It was even better because the rogues were laughing too.

“My room is nice too. Although, Vision still struggles with the concept of personal space,” Wanda said, smiling at Tony. They may not have ever really seen eye to eye, but she could see how hard he was trying.

“There are some things that time can’t change.”

It was a nice moment, to laugh and pretend to be friends as they used to be. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. It was hard to find conversation when you had been at each other’s necks (quite literally) a year ago. And even when things looked up for the shortest amounts of time, it turned out conversations were even harder to continue than they were to start. 

Silence lapsed again and the group seemed to be looking everywhere but each other. Wanda picked at her food quietly and Nat hid behind her mug. It seemed all the more awkward than it had been when they sat in silence in the previous weeks because they had just had something that so strongly resembled a friendly conversation.

Tony wished he could think of a way to break the silence. Unfortunately he couldn’t. Fortunately, Peter could. Tony’s phone, which had been lying dormant where he’d left it on the bench, began to blare out Radioactive and Tony had to physically hold himself back from letting out a sigh of relief. He’d have to thank the kid, who’d just unknowingly pulled him from another Avenger-related situation he didn’t want to be in.

He stood from next to Natasha and grabbed the phone. He answered quickly and ignored the questioning stares of the rogues. They didn’t need to know. He begun to walk towards the door, hoping to have the conversation in private.

That didn’t stop Sam, Wanda, Steve and Nat from hearing at least the start.

“Hey kiddo, you good? You’re not injured are you? No. You need help with school work. I can do that. When’s it due? Perfect, we’ll work on it when I see you tomorrow…”

When the man had completely left the room and the others could no longer hear his conversation they turned to each other. Confusion was etched on all four faces. Tony Stark never used a tone that soft with anyone. Except Pepper. 

It sparked Nat’s curiosity. She hadn’t heard anything more about the kid Tony had mentioned since the conversation with Rhodey. It wasn’t like she had been listening out for some mention of a child. Tony was well within his rights to keep secrets from them. She wished he wouldn’t though. It wasn’t the way to build trust.

Sam didn’t seem all that concerned by it, “That must have been his son.”

“I hadn’t even thought about that since the meeting he missed. I have a hard time believing Tony’s got a son, but that call just about convinced me,” Steve mumbled.

Nat turned to Wanda, “Why do you look so angry about it?” 

“It means we have to put up with two Starks.”

\--- 

The next afternoon Steve stood by the window, and watched as Tony’s car drove away, “I want to find out who his son is,” Steve stated, knowing she was there to hear him. 

Natasha emerged from the shadow, her gaze also fixed on the window, “We all do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the Avengers are a little but nosy...  
> I'm really glad so many people enjoyed the first part, but again there's so many characters in this so if you think anyone seems too out of character don't be afraid to let me know. I hope everyone enjoyed this part as well.  
> Anyway, you could probably figure this out, but this fic starts close to the end of Names and is at around the same time as some of Spider-Like.  
> Also, I'm not making this in anyway to hate on Team Cap. I love them all too but this fic is definitely more in favour of Team Iron Man, since they're the main characters of the series.


	3. 3

Rhodey sat down on a bench that faced the six Avengers still training. It was honestly hard to watch, it was extremely embarrassing to watch Sam get taken down constantly in his sparring match with Nat. He couldn’t help but wince whenever something Wanda was throwing hit the wall or Steve’s shield hit the metal boards he was hurling it at. But most of all it was upsetting that Vision had taken over his spot and was currently trading blasts with Tony. Because after Rhodey had to sit and take a break no one else would train with Tony. The scars left by the ‘Civil War’ went deeper than any of them had yet to admit. It pained Rhodey to see Tony so alone. Yet, Tony was the one who had ordered him to sit down. Even a year later his best friend was still paranoid he might hurt himself more.

He looked around, the room was big. Too big. With seven people in it there was more than there had been in months and it still looked empty. His gaze settled on Tony, who had his repulsors aimed at Vision. He wondered if Tony felt the same about the room being too big. Probably. He also probably tried to ignore the memory of the reason why. Rhodey probably should have, because now he found himself angry with the Avengers who had betrayed Tony’s trust.

He could almost see Tony leading him into the huge room, the floor covered in mats for soft landings, a boxing ring set up in the corner, an actual full sized swimming pool and, of course, the walls lined with weapons. He could see Tony explaining his plans, his joy in the continuation of the Avengers initiative and his plans to find as many enhanced individuals as there was to train them. To train them with the team. Tony had been uncharacteristically giddy at the idea of all the different people who could become Avengers. People who looked up to Tony. People who looked up to Steve. People who looked up to Thor, Bruce, Wanda, Sam, Nat and even him. Rhodey had found himself entranced by the idea, by his friend’s excitement. He and Tony had only wanted to welcome newbies to the team and to make the world even safer. Because above all else that had always been Tony’s goal.

He could still see Tony throwing the weapons that belonged to his old friends. He could see the pain in his face and the anger and exhaustion that exuded from him. The breakdown as Tony ruined his training room in the absence of those he had trusted.

Rhodey sighed and took in a shaky breath. He returned to reality and looked at the room’s current state. The walls were once again lined with weapons and there was actually a decent amount of people using it, but Tony had yet to gain back his hopes for the Avengers initiative. He doubted that Tony would ever go looking for recruits again.

He also saw the exact moment Steve threw his shield straight into the wall, rather than the boards he had been aiming at. He cringed when he saw the plaster of the wall flying around.  
And then he saw the robot.

\---

Steve had spent the last hour throwing his shield at the metal boards in front of him and catching it as it hurtled through the air and back to him. It wasn’t even slightly enjoyable but it was easy to do without concentrating. And he was most definitely not concentrating, not on training at least.

His concentration was taken by the same thing it had been for weeks. He needed a good way to apologise to Tony. He needed to try and pull the team together again. And preferably along the way he figured out the mystery that was plaguing him. The identity of Tony’s son. How Tony had kept him secret, what he was like, how little Tony had trusted them. Rightfully, he reminded himself. He had lied, but apparently Tony had to.

His shield came flying back and he noticed just in time to ground himself and catch it. He let out a heavy sigh, his bout of frustration getting the better of him, and flung his shield off again. His wild throw, however, resulted in wild aim and he watched in slight horror as the shield slammed into the plaster wall and lodged itself there. He watched the wall crumple under the vibranium. He sighed again, this was really not the way to go when he wanted to be forgiven.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Iron Man armour retracting around Tony. He mentally prepared himself for any complaints he might receive, but all the genius did was walk over to his best friend and announce he was retiring from this training session. He seemed completely unbothered by the hole in his wall. And that bothered Steve.

Turning back to the wall he noticed a small robot speeding towards where his shield hung from the wall. It was a fairly generic looking robot, it was plain metal and had a basic face. Steve was unsure what exactly it was, robots weren’t exactly his forte, but the eyes on the robot’s face appeared to be cameras. Other than that it looked like the type of robot you would see on a child’s television show. It was wheels with a large rectangular body and a smaller rectangular head and there was a lengthy arm hanging off either side of it. It was also only about the height of Steve’s hip.

The bot came to a stop in front of the damaged wall and suddenly it was rising in height, small poles appearing and pushing it from the wheels. It extended an arm and pulled the shield from the wall, then dropped it carelessly to the side. Its body opened up and in a blur of too many limbs and some other odd looking contraptions it put the wall back together.

Steve stared in shock at the now unblemished wall, looking around he noticed two things. One: the robot had drawn the attention of the other Avengers and they were all look at the wall with varying degrees of shock (read: Nat seemed unbothered and Sam looked like he’d seen a ghost. But a cool ghost). Two: the entirety of the wall was undamaged, and he knew Wanda had been throwing things at it. He assumed this meant that the robot had been fixing it the whole time without them noticing.

Steve turned to congratulate Tony on the creation. It was admittedly impressive. Instead he saw Rhodey and Tony leaving the room, having a conversation a normal person wouldn’t have been able to hear.

Emphasis on normal person. Steve was not one of those, and he’s super hearing allowed him to hear the conversation.

“That’s a handy little machine,” Rhodey said, he didn’t sound all that impressed. It wasn’t exactly hard for Tony to make robots. “When did you make it?”

“Oh, I didn’t,” came the other man’s reply, “My kid did.”

Rhodey let out a low whistle, “Damn kid’s a genius.”

“Like I said, he gets it from me.”

Then the doors closed behind the two men and they could no longer be heard. Steve couldn’t really explain why he was so shocked, he had thought about Tony’s son before, in fact he had just been thinking about him. About who he might be. But, he supposed part of him had still been in denial. Still really didn’t believe it was possible for Tony to have a child. He wondered who the mother was. He wondered when Tony had decided he wanted to be a father. He remembered how surprised Tony had been by the suggestion back before the Leipzig.

Maybe he was so shocked now because Tony had said ‘my kid’, when the others times there had been no possessiveness involved. It had just been ‘kid’. Maybe this was like the final confirmation he couldn’t deny. He found that he was happier for Tony than he thought he would be.

Steve sat down in shock.

\---

After Vision left, Nat, Sam, Steve and Wanda had stayed in the training room. The former three were in discussing what they thought they knew about the child who had been occupying so much of Tony’s time while the latter had taken a disinterested stance to the topic. She couldn’t see the importance in bringing another Stark into their lives.

“He’s got to be pretty old right? I mean he has a phone, plus, he made a robot, he can’t be a baby,” Sam reasoned.

“Which leads to the question: how did Tony keep him a secret this long? From the media. From the public. From us…” Steve said. He was clearly frustrated, as he tapped his fingers against the table.

“Clint managed to do it. Don’t lie to yourself and say we always told each other everything.” Natasha snapped.

The rogues looked at her in surprise. She’d been increasingly annoyed and they couldn’t figure out why.

“You alright?” Sam asked.

“I’ve searched everywhere I can think of and there is no trace of this damn kid. It’s crazy! Tony hardly talks to us and everything about this is just awkward. It’s torturous.” Nat looked as though she might begin to pull her hair out.

“You guys know I can read minds, right? I could find out who it is.” Wanda said, finally joining the conversation.

“No,” Steve said, shaking his head, “We’re trying to win Tony’s trust back. Not make things worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say I love you guys so much, like wow you're all amazing. The comments I've been getting on the stories are so nice and I'm kinda overwhelmed by the support but I'm so glad you've been enjoying the stories, so yeah...  
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter and I'll try to update before or on Friday. And things might even be looking up for our team.  
> 


	4. 4

Sam pressed an ice pack to his cheek. He had taken quite the hit yesterday when the team had raided an underground Hydra base. Now the side of his face was tender and purple and he was having trouble really moving the right side of his face. Even just to smile, not that anyone in the compound was really in a smiley mood.

Sam really hated Hydra, he already had before yesterday, obviously, but now the anger was back and bigger than ever. He was sure they had gotten rid of the bastards years back when SHIELD fell. But apparently there is always more Hydra. Always.

Isn’t that what they said though? Cut off one head, two more will take its place.

Damn, it was annoying when villains lived up to their word. 

\---

He’d been officially cleared of criminal charges for two and a half months. He’d been back at the Avengers compound for almost one and a half. This was their first team mission since then. And Sam was reminded, nothing put things into perspective like life and death experiences.

Tony had been the one to suggest the raid. He said he’d had a tip off, wouldn’t tell them who though, that there was a running Hydra base somewhere. He’d also said they’d have to go under the radar and outside of the law. Ross wouldn’t know and they’d be in trouble if they were caught. Sam was the first to agree to go. When had he not been in trouble lately?

He knew that Steve had been particularly upset with the fact that they were breaking the law, because why would Tony do it now, but not when the Accords had originally been drawn up. Sam found it was easier to be around Tony if you didn’t try to figure out his reasoning.

“Why should we go without permission now,” Steve had demanded, “When you have been so hell bent on following the Accords all these months?” 

Tony had run his hand down his face, and Sam had thought he might just get up and go do the mission himself, “Because, we aren’t going to be putting any innocent lives at stake. This isn’t like some big fight in the middle of a popular city. This is making sure we prevent one of those.”

Nat had also been upset, but mostly because Tony wouldn’t tell them his source and she enjoyed having details. Trustworthy ones.

The fight had been relatively easy, but it highlighted one thing. There was not a lot of trust on the team. In fact, there was almost none. Vision and Tony had stuck by each other for most of the fight, Sam and Steve were only separated when Sam got injured and he was fairly sure Wanda and Nat had stuck together the whole time. Plus, between the six people fighting – Tony had benched Rhodey, much to the man’s upset – the only talking was to give instructions, which was a complete turnaround from the amusing banter that used to go through the comms when the team went out to fight.

Then there had been the moment that almost sent Sam out of the fight. He’d just been slammed into a very solid, cold stone wall, hence the bruised face, when a Hydra agent raised his gun and shot at him before he got the chance to regain his senses. He’d heard the shot and prepared himself for the impact and pain that never came, instead he heard the tell-tale ping of metal on metal. Tony, standing directly in front of him had taken the bullet, then he lifted his hand and blasted the Hydra guy. And sure, that bullet never would have hurt Tony, it couldn’t have gotten through his armour, in fact Sam wasn’t sure of anything that could get through the Nanotech armour, but Tony had still saved him.

At the time Tony had left before Sam could thank him (but not without a, “You right, Birdbrain? Try not to get shot, there’ll be less explaining to do.”), but Sam had found him after they got back to the compound and cleaned themselves up. He was sitting in the living room, not doing anything, and turned as soon as Sam walked in. He nodded at him and turned back to the blank TV.

“Look man, I just wanted to say thanks. About the whole bullet thing,” Sam said.

He was sure he saw the other man’s jaw clench, “That’s what teammates are for,” Stark replied.

Sam sighed, he already didn’t like this conversation. “I know you probably don’t trust me, hell I don’t know if I trust you, but just know I got your back on the field, like you had mine. We aren’t gonna let you die out there, and sorry if you thought we were.” There was silence following this, “Because that’s what teammates do,” Sam continued.

Tony looked at him, he didn’t look like he totally agreed, but he did appear to be somewhat grateful or amused.

“Well, be warned, I’m a handful, Birdbrain.”

They both laughed then.

\---

As he nursed his cheek Sam thought about the conversation of yesterday, it had been uncomfortable at the time, but he was proud of himself now. He even thought he’d be able to deal with Tony not apologising. He looked around the room at the others, it was silent and he couldn’t help but wonder how many of the other’s had apologised to each other. His train of thought was interrupted by the phone beside him ringing. He looked down and it took him a moment to realise it was Tony’s phone. He didn’t recognise the name of the person calling, but he did notice that Tony hadn’t noticed the ringing.

“Hey Tony, someone called May is ringing you,” Sam called out, holding the phone out to Tony.

The man in question looked a bit worried at this, as though he was scared of the person calling him. The woman in the photo on the screen didn’t look scary, not to Sam, quite the opposite actually she looked very nice. But then Pepper was scarier than she looked too. It was a bit of a blurry photo, as though Tony didn’t have many options but had decided to use one anyway. Sam wondered who this woman was to warrant such a reaction.

Rhodey laughed, “What have you done this time?”

Tony swatted him over the head and walked over to Sam, plucked the phone out of his hand and answered immediately.

“Hey May, what’s up? He’s not injured is he because if he is I will… Oh okay, he never mentioned it. Yeah, when is it? This Wednesday – I’ll check…” Tony’s voice drowned out as he walked from the room.

Sam looked around, Wanda and Vision were still giggling with each other as though nothing had happened, Nat and Steve shared a significant look and Rhodey watched the confusion of Nat and Steve, and Sam himself too he supposed, with what appeared to be great amusement.

Sam wondered if this May somehow knew Tony’s secret kid. His conversation with her seemed similar to the one he had had with the child, Tony having asked about injuries both times. Sam almost humoured the thought that maybe this woman was another secret family member – but that was ridiculous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the apologies begin...
> 
> Wow guys, I can't thank you enough for all the support I get on these works! The first fic of this series, Names, just reached 10000 hits yesterday and I just find it so unbelievable. I remember uploading it and not even expecting 100 hits, so I'm really happy right now. Everyone's support means so much and you're comments always make me smile. I don't know if anyone actually reads these notes, but I have to rant about how grateful I am somewhere, so...  
> Anyway, next chapter will (hopefully) be up within the next three days.


	5. 5

As it happens, Wanda is the first one to really find out about the kid.

And it’s completely by accident. No mind reading or questioning involved. No purposeful set ups. She just happens to be the one stumbling around the compound at the same ungodly hour as Tony.

\---

Wanda had been staring at the clock on her bedside table, watching as the seconds tick by. She was lying on her side, curled up in blankets attempting to get back to sleep. At least she had been, but in the few hours of sleep she had gotten tonight she’d been plagued by nightmares. Normally nightmares are something she can handle, it’s kind of like mind manipulation. Not that she’s ever been able to do that on herself, but she has found that if she thinks about good memories long enough the nightmares go away. And she thinks that has something to do with her powers.

Tonight was a different story though. She’d been entirely unable to get back to sleep and she just couldn’t shake the feeling that there are more horrors in store for her if she closed her eyes. That was why she’d chosen to focus on the clock. The seconds ticking by were something constant, they were steady and they weren’t stopping. She found that it was comforting to have something constant to concentrate on. Especially when there were times in her life when it seemed like nothing and no one was constant.

54\. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 00.

All the numbers on the clock changed as the time turned to three am. She sat up, feeling the sudden urge to escape the constraints of her room. She looked around, but there wasn’t much to see. She’d spent almost a month and a half back at the compound and she still hadn’t really begun to personalise the room. The picture of her and her brother, her clothes and the metal plaque that said ‘Wanda’ on the outside of her door were the most personalised things in her room. She couldn’t bring herself to decorate. It made things feel permanent, and she didn’t think she was ready for permanent. Not when last time she considered the Avengers Compound permanent she’d had to leave in such a hurry.

Wanda slid out of bed and found some slippers to wear. Then, quietly as she could so no one would wake and follow her, she pushed open her door and slipped out of her room. She began to wander through the halls of the building. She wasted no time leaving the sleeping quarters and heading towards the communal area.

As she walked through the dark hallways she couldn’t help but notice how much the whole compound lacked life. The colour scheme was so clean and pristine and everything had a place and nothing was out of place. Sure it looked nice, but it was boring. There was no heart or soul to the place. It was obvious during the day but there was something about the night that seemed to amplify the emptiness.

A small robot whizzed past her feet and she almost jumped out of surprise. There was too many robots in this building. Robots reminded her of Ultron. She didn’t like that. But it wasn’t Ultron that this robot made her think of. As it sped by she couldn’t help but wonder if it was one of Tony’s creations or one of his son’s.

It didn’t bother her that they didn’t know the boy. She knew that everyone kept secrets. The only thing that really bothered her about the whole situation was the odd feeling it brought on. She struggled to think that there were members of the team with important people in their lives that the others didn’t know. That was probably just because all the important people in her life were on the team though.

She wasn’t quite sure how she ended up at the kitchen door, but she was there so she decided to go in and see if there was something she could say was comfort food. Instead, she pushed open the door and saw the dark silhouette of a person illuminated by a phone of some type. It took her a few more seconds to figure out that it was Tony.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake,” she said. She began to turn to leave.

Tony didn’t even look at her, “You can stay.”

A beat of silence. Wanda was unsure of how to react to that.

“Things are never going to get better if you keep walking out of every room I’m in,” he continued.

She frowned, she was surprised that he had actually addressed the frail relationship between the two. But she was also confused by the way he had said it. It was so… soft. Like he was preoccupied with something else entirely.

She walked past the man at and began pulled open one of the cabinets, looking through it. She cringed, she felt like he was scrutinising her every move, even though she knew he wasn’t even looking at her. She pulled out the hot chocolate mix and settled on making some. After she’d begun she turned and studied the man.

He looked tired. But he looked very happy. And stunned. She wasn’t sure how he conveyed so much emotion considering he normally showed none, but he was doing it. The light coming from his phone highlighted his face and the moonlight streaming through the window made shadows around the rest of the room. Wanda felt extremely awkward in the silence.

When her drink was ready she took it and sat at the bench, across from Tony. She stared at him. And then she noticed the picture. It took her eyes and mind a while to put it together, the angle she was looking at it from playing tricks on her, but then it was very obvious what it was. In the photo Tony stood tall and proud, in his signature suit and glasses, he was grinning and his arm was thrown around the shoulders of a young boy. Wanda noticed that Tony still wore the suit from the picture, so it had to be from today. The child in the picture was maybe fourteen with dark hair and eyes, he slouched slightly and it looked like he was leaning into Tony’s side. He was wearing jeans and a large jumper that looked like it had a school emblem on it. Everything about the child screamed innocence.

She looked back up at Tony’s face. He looked up and met her gaze.

“Normally I only expect that kind of look from Natasha.”

She ignored him and gestured at the phone, “Is that your son?”

Tony looked at her, surprise written on his face. “Uh, yeah?”

Wanda narrowed her eyes at him. Had he just answered with a question? Tony Stark unsure of something? She found herself curious, “You seem confused,” she told him bluntly.

“He called me dad today,” Tony looked into her eyes again and she could almost see his desperation, like he was trying to hang onto something. But Wanda had no idea what.

“So? That’s what children normally call their fathers.”

“He’s not, uh, you know I’m not sure why I’m telling you this.”

“Because you don’t want to tell anyone else?” she suggested.

Tony seemed to consider this. “Maybe it’s because I know you could find out anyway,” he started, and then he took a breath and collected himself, “He’s not mine, not biologically. He was just, well he was kind of an intern and, who knows why, but I took him under my wing and I guess we got close and he’s really important to me and I considered him mine, then today he called me dad. But I know it, god, you know it, I’m not fit to be a father, I can hardly deal with people my own age. What if I ruin him?”

What was Wanda supposed to say to that? It struck her then, when she should have been comforting him, that she never really made an effort to get to know Tony. She had no idea how to talk to him. He had never been her favourite person, and she doubted she had ever been his, but she now felt they had let that get in the way of ever actually really talking to eachother. She sighed.

“You know I never really liked you.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, “Great. Thanks.”

“You didn’t let me finish. I don’t think I ever really gave myself the chance to like you. I got too caught up in Ultron and my parents. You locked me in the compound. I know you were trying to help me, but I didn’t like it. It still meant your first instinct was to protect, no matter how stupidly. Look, I don’t know why I’m telling you this Stark, but I am,” she gave him a hard look, noticing that he seemed to actually want to hear what she would say, “But if he’s decided that your good enough to be his dad, you’re probably doing something right. Also, I’m sorry. Sorry for fighting against you. I’m not sorry for trying to escape the compound, but I am sorry about the fight that it ended up as. And I am sorry for not signing the Accords, but they made me feel like a villain. They made me feel like a monster, like they were targeting me and I couldn’t be a hero. And when you spend so much time around the Avengers all you really want to be is a hero. Not an inferior.”

“Wow, that didn’t go where I expected it to. And I really hate heart to heart bullshit, but I think I gotta tell you that you’re not always going to feel like a hero. When I’m around the ever righteous Capsicle I feel like a fraud. Like I’m the worst, most selfish, cruel hero out there. So I get why you want to be looked at like you’re a hero. That’s what the kid makes me feel like, like I’m the best person he knows,” Tony sounded so fragile and weak while he admitted this, Wanda couldn’t help but feel guilty at how quick she had judged him.

She nodded and gave a gentle smile. The rest of the time it took her to finish her drink was spent in silence, but it was the most comfortable silence there had been at the compound since she had returned. She found it odd, she felt as though after this she would be closer to Tony than she had ever been. Even after what had happened, and she thought she was probably the only rogue that could say that. It felt weird for her to sympathise the man, since she never really liked him.

As she was leaving she turned back to him, “What’s his name?”

“Peter.”

\---

Wanda had managed to get back to sleep when she returned to her room and she had felt surprisingly good when she woke up. She had climbed out of bed to see a poster lying on her otherwise empty desk. She picked it up and unfurled it, surprised to see a picture of her, embellished with the bold worlds ‘Hero: Scarlet Witch – A.K.A: Wanda Maximoff’. She had smiled, knowing immediately who it was from.

Now, about an hour later, she was in the kitchen with everyone bar Tony. There was light chatter between people as everyone ate breakfast. Rhodey and Pepper whispered in the corner.

“Have any of you talked to Tony recently? He seemed really distracted this morning?” Rhodey asked everyone.

Wanda smirked, “His kid’s put a lot on his mind.”

Everyone, especially Rhodey, looked at her in surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you think you're being a little dramatic Tony? I mean, I'm pretty sure you called yourself Dad first...  
> Also, I hope this doesn't seem different from how Wanda has been acting the rest of the fic, I wanted her and Tony to talk and I tried to keep it in character. I like this chapter because I think it also gives good insight on how I want Wanda to grow in this series.
> 
> Wow, wow, wow! Thanks for all the support! I'll never be able to say it enough, I'm constantly blown away by all the positivity these fics receive. I love you guys!


	6. +1

Tony decided, then and there, that if he ever saw Thor again he would throttle him. It didn’t matter if Tony died in the process, as long as Thor knew the result of screwing up his day with Peter.

Things had been going perfectly. Tony had just thrashed Peter at mini golf (Read: Peter had won), they’d had ice cream for lunch and were headed to the ferry so they could see the Statue of Liberty, because why not? Their original plan had been to go to the beach, but then they had realised they both hated water and being in it for extended periods of time. Anyway, in a split second it went from clear skies to thunderstorms. Literally. And it was so bad that they had to cancel all the ferries over to the island. It had completely ruined their plans, and perhaps it was unfair, but Tony thought he was well within his rights to blame the thunder god.

Now, Peter and Tony were sitting in the back of Happy’s car, soaking wet and heading back to the compound. Happy was grumbling because he was supposed to have the day off, Tony was grumbling because his day had been ruined and Peter was watching rain droplets race down his window.

“You sure you want to go back to the compound? I thought we didn’t want Peter meeting the rogues,” Happy said. He was watching Tony through his rear-view mirror and he didn’t miss the way he twitched at the mention of them.

“They are out for the weekend. That’s what they said.” Tony replied.

At the same time Peter hummed and mumbled, “I’m going to punch Captain America.”

Tony raised an eyebrow and turned to him, “What was that?”

“I said, the rain isn’t that bad, I still had a lot of fun today,” Peter flashed an innocent smile and curled up, he rested his head on Tony’s shoulder.

Happy let out a bark of laughter and Tony and wrapped an arm around him.

\---

As soon as they had arrived back at the compound they had headed to their rooms to get cleaned up. They had decided that when they were both dry and warm they would meet in the kitchen for a late afternoon snack. Tony wasn’t sure if it was healthy for Peter to eat as much as he did, but who was he to deny food to a growing child.

Tony probably spent a bit longer than necessary getting ready, but he had all weekend to spend with Peter so he took the time to find the shirt Peter had gotten him for Christmas the previous year. Not the Spider-Man one, he had big plans to wear that to a fundraising event at the children’s hospital next month, but the one that had one of Peter’s trademarked science puns on it. It was a light grey shirt with a picture of two molecules on it, the first one said ‘molecule’ underneath it and the second one was wearing sunglasses and said ‘molecool’ underneath it. It would be a lie if he said it wasn’t one his favourite shirts.

He left his room and let out a sigh of relief. It was nice to be dry again. He pulled out his phone and began to read through emails as he made his way to the kitchen. He didn’t like having to do work while he was with Peter, but these emails were probably important so he used the time to check them. As he stepped into the elevator to head down to the kitchen he didn’t bother to look up and see who was already in it. He was a bit too busy watching a video Pepper had sent him of three corporate executives freaking out over the new model of the Stark Phone. It was definitely more interesting than the emails he normally got.

Unfortunately, the other person in the elevator was not as content with the silence as he was.

“Tony, I was just looking for you.”

“Uh huh,” maybe he should listen.

“Listen I wanted to apologise. I mean, I have the whole time. But I’m sorry about the whole thing, and I plan to gain your trust back, no matter how- Are you even listening?” she sounded annoyed.

Something nagged in Tony’s mind. Something that told him he should definitely take notice of this woman, because there was definitely something wrong. He felt anxiety rising up in his stomach. It was almost like fear. He couldn’t figure out why, he couldn’t place it. It wasn’t like he knew her.

Except he did, because how else would she be in the private section of the compound. And why else would she not be scared of getting angry at Tony Stark.

The elevator door opened and he stepped out. So did she.

And why else would she sound exactly like Natasha Romanoff.

“Tony,” she clicked her fingers in front of his face.

“Nat! Aren’t you supposed- why are you here?” Tony turned to face her and she frowned.

“I live here.”

“No. Not this weekend. You are supposed to be at Barton’s. All of you, you said you were going to be at Clint’s for the weekend.”

“Dinner. We said we were going to his place for dinner. We ended up staying the night, but we never said we the weekend,” Nat looked very confused.

Tony wouldn’t even be upset if she got angry at him. He knew he was being quite rude, but this had not been part of his weekend plan. In fact, he had screwed up majorly.

“Sam, Steve and Wanda are heading to the kitchen,” she said, almost offhandedly.

Tony’s heart stopped and he dropped his phone. This was not okay. He sprinted to the kitchen. Natasha, after a moment of confusion, ran off after him.

\---

Peter was more than aware that the ex-rogue Avengers had been standing in the kitchen door for the better part of the last ten minutes. They had showed up in the kitchen just after he had sat down with his sandwich. He had expected them to come in and start making food, but they appeared to be frozen in the door. He was also fairly sure they didn’t think he had noticed them. At least, they hadn’t made any sign to show they thought he had. They just stood there. They even looked kind of embarrassed.

It was fantastic.

He could tell they had absolutely no idea what to do. A teenager had probably been the last thing they expected to find in Tony Stark’s kitchen. In all fairness, he hadn’t expected to see them either. He had been told that they were away for the weekend. But he had made the decision that he wouldn’t make a move to introduce himself until they did. And it was going hilariously well.

He got up and took his plate over to the dishwasher. He was careful not to turn around as he made his way over. Just as he closed the dishwasher a huge crash came from behind him. He spun around and stared at Captain America, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch lying on the ground, Black Widow standing in the doorway looking directly at him (kinda creepy), Vision floated just above them all and his dad half sprawled across the table. It appeared as though Tony had run into the room and barrelled them all over, only for Black Widow to walk in on the mess.

Peter couldn’t hold back a small grin.

Tony walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He gazed out at all the others and cleared his throat. “Sorry. This is Peter, my son. Pete this is Steve, Sam, Wanda and Nat.” Steve and Sam openly gawked at Peter and Nat’s surprise was obvious. Wanda shrugged.

Peter frowned, “I know,” he told Tony, then he turned to the others, “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Tony pat his shoulder, “Funny story. They went to Clint’s for dinner. Not the weekend.”

Peter rolled his eyes and Tony gave him a look of mock offence. Wanda smiled at the interaction, Peter was even more adorable in person than he had been in that picture. She was glad that she and Tony had started to patch things up. Hopefully Peter would also forgive her for hurting Tony. He looked friendly.

Steve stepped forward, “Look son, we’re friends of Tony’s,” he began to say.

Peter tilted his head and looked at him curiously. In an almost scrutinising matter. Then, with absolutely no warning he swung his fist at Steve’s face and punched him square on the nose. Steve stumbled backwards, more out of surprise than force, and held his nose. Peter had made sure not to hit him with much strength, only enough to be a bit more than you would expect from someone his size. It felt good. Also, very… surprising. He knew he said he was going to do it, but he hadn’t actually expected to. He guessed he just reached his tipping point, “You don’t get to call yourself his friends. Friends don’t leave each other for dead,” Peter said darkly.

Steve looked between the small child and Tony in surprise. Peter stared at his hand in shock. Tony couldn’t help but devolve into laughter, “Holy shit. Holy shit, I wasn’t expecting you to actually punch him. Jesus Christ, Pete.” Nat and Sam both shot Tony somewhat disapproving glances but he could see Wanda trying to hold back a smile and Vision very openly grinning. He couldn’t wait to get this video off Friday and show Rhodey, Pepper and Happy.

Steve didn’t know what was more surprising: that he had just been punched, that he had actually met Tony’s son or that this was Tony’s son. For starters the kid looked so innocent it was almost ridiculous to compare him to Tony. Then there was the fact that he had resulted to physical violence so quickly when Tony always fought people with his words. It was also a punch that was stronger than he expected from someone as small as this child. He couldn’t help but think that Peter didn’t look old enough to be making robots. But then, all Starks were geniuses.

Natasha wasn’t surprised that this was Tony’s kid. They looked similar, the same shade of brown hair, dark eyes, not that tall. She was really only surprised because she hadn’t expected to meet him. It had been impossible for her to find any information on the child, yet here he was, standing in the same kitchen as her, completely unprotected.

“Why so surprised, Wilson?” Tony asked jokingly, but he seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Sam shrugged, “I was just expecting him to be older, like sixteen or seventeen, not twelve.”

“Hey! I’m almost sixteen,” Peter looked very offended, but Sam didn’t look even slightly convinced. “Anyway, what do you mean expecting? You aren’t even supposed to know I exist…”

Peter looked at Tony in wide eyed confusion as Sam began to laugh. He gripped the back of a chair and held his stomach, but there was no way he could find Peter’s question that funny.

“Oh man. Not supposed to know? Kid, Tony is constantly bragging about his genius child. How were we supposed to not know?” Sam laughed.

Peter’s eyes got even wider, which shouldn’t have been possible, and he blushed. Tony looked a bit embarrassed.

Tony clapped his hands together and pulled Peter into his side in a very protective manner, “Well, this has been lovely. We’re going to go hangout elsewhere. Enjoy the rest of your day,” Tony once again wished the day hadn’t been rained out. Thunder rumbled outside, just to remind him it had. He was really going to kill Thor now.

Tony and Peter headed to the door, Peter waved for Vision to join them and the three left the kitchen. Steve dropped down into a chair, and mumbled about being hit by a fifteen year old. Wanda was perched on top of the bench and watched the other three. She felt odd knowing more about the situation than them, but that didn’t change the fact that it was very amusing.

“You know, Peter isn’t his biologically,” well, judged by the way their eyes widened they didn’t know, “Tony got close with him through an internship. I think their very cute though. Just like father and son anyway,” she closed her eyes for a moment, flooded with memories of how much she had enjoyed the playful arguments between her father and Pietro.

Steve stood up, but Nat snatched his wrist before he could head to the door, “Just leave them. I don’t think Tony was ready for us to meet him.”

Steve nodded.

\---

Peter sat on his bed and curled the sheet in his hand. After the shock of punching the Steve Rogers had worn off and he had remembered the whole ordeal he couldn’t stop smiling. He and Tony had decided that they would spend the rest of the weekend in Queens, but even if he had had to go home without spending the rest of the weekend with Tony he wouldn’t have been able to stop smiling. A year ago, the reason he wouldn’t have been able to get rid of his smile was because he had met the Avengers, but now, it was because Tony had introduced him to the Avengers as his son. Tony bragged about him regularly. He couldn’t believe this wasn’t all some elaborate dream.

He knew he would be able to go to the compound more often again, since he had technically met the Avengers now. He had already decided he had to get to know them to make sure it was safe for his dad to be around them.

Tony walked into his room and offered a smile, “You alright, kiddo?”

“Extra.”

“Extra alright?” Tony asked.

Peter laughed, “Okay that didn’t make any sense, but you know what I mean.”

“You punched Captain America. It felt good to watch,” Tony smirked.

“It felt good to do. Anyway, we’re even now. He punched me in Leipzig.”

“HE WHAT?”

Peter laughed and stood up, he walked over to Tony and hugged him. Tight. “Thanks for today. I love you, Dad.”

He heard Tony’s heart get a bit faster and felt his hug get a bit tighter, “I love you too, Son.” A pause, “But not those pesky Avengers.”

Now they both laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this chapter and it lived up to everyone's expectations.   
> Thanks so much to everyone for their support, and look out for the next work in this series, which (at this stage) is going to be called 'You Can't Keep Secrets'  
> Anyway, while this fic definitely makes sense without reading the previous fics, I would suggest reading them so everything makes even better sense.  
> And again, I love you all!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for all the support on my last fic, I'm glad you all enjoyed it! I hope you like this one too.  
> Anyway, I'm pretty new to writing fics and I'm not sure about the characterisation in this story, so please if you think anyone is to out of character, let me know and I'll try to improve it for future chapters.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Little Stark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587740) by [Morana_black](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morana_black/pseuds/Morana_black)




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